Learning Chess

By Mike Breuer
The Chess Board
!""""""""#
ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + %
å + + + +%
ä+ + + + %
ã + + + +%
â+ + + + %
á + + + +%
à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï)
There are 64 squares on the chess board. There are dark squares and there are light
squares. The light colored squares are usually called “white” squares and the dark
squares are usually called “black” squares, even though some chess boards may use
different colors. For example, a wooden chess board may have dark brown and light
brown squares, but we would still refer to them as “black” and “white” respectively.

Whether you are playing the black pieces or the white pieces, the square in the lower-
right corner is always white. Remember the rhyme “white on the right” to make sure
you have the board facing the correct direction when you play.

Each square has a name. We can find the name of the square by looking at where the
letters at the bottom of the board meet the numbers along the side of the board. In the
diagram above, the square in the lower-left corner is called “a1” while the square in the
upper-right corner is called “h8”. Chess players always give the letter first, followed by
the number.

The numbered rows are also called ranks.

The lettered columns are also called files.

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The Chess Pieces
These are the names of the chess pieces.

White Piece Black Piece

King

k l Each side has 1 king

Queen

q w Each side has 1 queen

rr tt
Rook
(Beginners sometimes
call this piece a “castle”)

Each side has 2 rooks

bb vv
Bishop

Each side has 2 bishops

nn mm
Knight
(Beginners sometimes
call this piece a “horse”)

Each side has 2 knights

Pawn pppp oooo

pppp oooo
Each side has 8 pawns

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Setting up the Chess Board
Here is what the chess board looks like at the start of every game:

!""""""""#
çtMvWlVmT%
æOoOoOoOo%
å + + + +%
ä+ + + + %
ã + + + +%
â+ + + + %
ápPpPpPpP%
àRnBqKbNr%
/èéêëìíîï)
The white pieces are always on row 1 and the white pawns are always on row 2.
The black pieces are always on row 8 and the black pawns are always on row 7.

Notice that the kings are both on the “e” file and the queens are both on the “d” file.
This means that the white queen always starts on a white square and the black queen
always starts on a black square. Remember the phrase “queen on color” to remember
this rule.

If your chess board does not have numbers and letter on it, just remember the rhyme
“white on the right” (see page 2) to make sure you are placing the white pieces along
the correct edge.

-4-
Moving the Pieces
The King

!""""""""#
ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + %
å + + + +%
ä+ +.:.+ %
ã + :k: +%
â+ +.:.+ %
á + + + +%
à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï)
The king can move one square in any direction. In the diagram above, the king (on the
square e4) can move to any of the squares marked with a dot. The king is the most
valuable piece on the board. It is subject to several special rules discussed in the
sections called “check/checkmate” (page ??), and “castling” (page ??).

The king can not move to a square that already has a piece of the same color on it. The
king can capture an opponent’s piece by landing on it.

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Moving the Pieces
The Queen

!""""""""#
ç + : + :%
æ: +.+ : %
å : : : +%
ä+ :.: + %
ã.:.Q.:.:%
â+ :.: + %
á : : : +%
à: +.+ : %
/èéêëìíîï)
The queen can move any number of squares in a straight line in any direction, including
vertical (up and down), horizontal (left and right) or diagonally. For this reason, it is
usually the most valuable piece on the board after the king.

The queen captures an opponent’s piece by landing on it. The queen cannot move over
a piece blocking her path.

For example, in the diagram on the right, !""""""""#

the queen cannot reach the g4 square ç + : + :%
because it has a white pawn on it. It cannot
reach the h4 square because the white
æ: +.+ : %
pawn on g4 blocks its path. å : : : +%
ä+ :.: + %
Similarly, the queen cannot reach the a4
square because the black pawn blocks its
ã O.Q.:p+%
path. The queen can land on the b4 square, â+ :.: + %
capturing the black pawn. á : : : +%
à: +.+ : %
/èéêëìíîï)

-6-
Moving the Pieces
The Rook

!""""""""#
ç + +.+ +%
æ+ + : + %
å + +.+ +%
ä+ + : + %
ã.:.:r:.:%
â+ + : + %
á + +.+ +%
à+ + : + %
/èéêëìíîï)
The rook can move any distance in any direction either horizontally or vertically, but not
diagonally. Like the queen, the rook cannot move past pieces blocking its path. The
rook captures opposing pieces by landing on them.

-7-
Moving the Pieces
The Bishop

!""""""""#
ç.+ + + +%
æ+.+ + +.%
å +.+ +.+%
ä+ +.+.+ %
ã + +b+ +%
â+ +.+.+ %
á +.+ +.+%
à+.+ + +.%
/èéêëìíîï)
The bishop can move any distance in any direction, but only diagonally. Like the queen
and the rook, the bishop can not jump over pieces that block its path. The bishop
captures opposing pieces by landing on them.

Because it only moves at diagonals, a bishop can never move to a square of a different
color. At the start of the game, each player has one bishop that moves on the light
squares, and one bishop that moves on the dark squares.

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Moving the Pieces
The Knight

!""""""""#
ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + %
å + : : +%
ä+ : + : %
ã + +n+ +%
â+ : + : %
á + : : +%
à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï)
The knight moves in what is described as an “L” shape. That is, it moves two squares in
one direction and then one square in another direction. This path can be pictured as a
capitol “L” (The “L” may be backwards, sideways, upside down, etc). The knight in the
diagram can move to any of the “dotted” squares in the above diagram. Notice that all
of the dotted squares are black. This is because whenever the knight moves, it moves to
a different colored square.

Knights are the only pieces in chess that can

!""""""""#
jump over other pieces. In the diagram on the ç + + + +%
right, the knight on the g2 square can move to æ+ + + + %
any of the dotted squares even though its
path is blocked by its own pieces. å + + + +%
ä+ + + + %
Knights capture opposing pieces by landing on ã + + : :%
â+ + :bPp%
them.

á + +pPn+%
à+ + :rK %
/èéêëìíîï)

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Moving the Pieces
The Pawn

!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + + + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + % æ+ O + + %
å + + + +% å +.+ + +%
ä+ + + + % ä+ : + + %
ã +.+ + +% ã + + + +%
â+ : + + % â+ + + + %
á +p+ + +% á + + + +%
à+ + + + % à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
Pawns can move forward only. White pawns move toward the black side (above, left).
Black pawns move towards the white side (above, right).

When a pawn moves for the first time, it can move either one or two squares forward
(above). Otherwise, the pawn can move only one square forward (below).

!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + + + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + % æ+ + + + %
å + + + +% å + + + +%
ä+ : + + % ä+ O + + %
ã +p+ + +% ã +.+ + +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
á + + + +% á + + + +%
à+ + + + % à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
Pawns can not move forward if their path is blocked by their own piece or an
opponents. See the next page to learn how pawns capture.

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Moving the Pieces
The Pawn (continued)
!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + + + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + % æ+ + + + %
å + + + +% å + + + +%
ä+ X X + % ä+ +o+ + %
ã + P + +% ã +x+x+ +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
á + + + +% á + + + +%
à+ + + + % à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
Pawns capture only at a forward diagonal. They cannot capture when moving straight
forward. Likewise, they cannot move at a diagonal unless they are capturing an
opposing piece.

In the left diagram below, both the black and white pawns are stuck and cannot move.
In the right diagram below, the pawn on the c5 square is stuck, but the pawn on the c4
square can move by capturing the pawn on the d5 square. The pawn on d5 can either
capture the pawn on c4, or move forward to d4.

!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + + + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + % æ+ + + + %
å + + + +% å + + + +%
ä+ O + + % ä+ Oo+ + %
ã +p+ + +% ã +p+ + +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
á + + + +% á + + + +%
à+ + + + % à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)

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Moving the Pieces
Pawn Promotion
!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + : + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ +p+ + % æ+ + + + %
å + + + +% å + + + +%
ä+ + + + % ä+ + + + %
ã + + + +% ã + + + +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
á + + + +% á + O + +%
à+ + + + % à+ +.+ + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
When a pawn has moved all the way across the board, it can be promoted. This means
that it changes into another piece of the same color. The pawn can change into a
queen, rook, bishop, or knight but players almost always choose a queen since it’s the
most powerful piece.

When a player moves a pawn to the 8th rank (for white) or the 1st rank (for black) it is
immediately removed from the board and replaced with a piece of the player’s choice.
There is no restriction on how many pawns may be promoted, or how many queens (or
rooks, or bishops, or knights) a player can have after promoting. If a player promotes to
a queen but already has a queen on the board, he/she will sometimes place a rook
upside down to indicate another queen.

In the diagrams below, the pawns have moved and promoted to queens.
!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + Q + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ + + + % æ+ + + + %
å + + + +% å + + + +%
ä+ + + + % ä+ + + + %
ã + + + +% ã + + + +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
á + + + +% á + + + +%
à+ + + + % à+ +w+ + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)

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Special Moves
Castling

!""""""""# !""""""""#
çt+ +l+ T% ç +lT + T%
æOoO +oOo% æOoO +oOo%
å + + + +% å + + + +%
ä+ + + + % ä+ + + + %
ã + + + +% ã + + + +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
ápPp+ PpP% ápPp+ PpP%
àR + K +r% àR + +rK %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
Castling is a special case where a player protects his/her king by moving it towards a
corner of the board while on the same move a rook moves out of the corner towards the
middle of the board. This is the only time in chess that a player can move more than
one piece on the same turn. The diagram on the left shows the positions of the kings
and rooks before castling, and the diagram on the right shows the position after each
side has castled. White has castled kingside and black has castled queenside.

When castling, the king always moves two squares, and the rook always moves to the
square on the other side of the king.

Rules for Castling

When castling, all of the following conditions must be true:

1. The squares between the king and the rook are empty.
2. Neither the king nor the rook has moved at all during the game.
3. The king is not moving into, out of, or “through” check.

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Special Moves
En Passant
!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + + + +% ç + + + +%
æ+ O + + % æ+ + + + %
å +.+ + +% å +x+ + +%
ä+ :p+ + % ä+ Op+ + %
ã + + + +% ã + + + +%
â+ + + + % â+ + + + %
á + + + +% á + + + +%
à+ + + + % à+ + + + %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
Because it doesn’t come up very often, even experienced players sometimes do not
know the en passant rule. This is a special rule that prevents pawns from passing one
another by moving two squares. In the diagram on the left, the black pawn can “pass”
the white pawn by moving two squares forward (to c5) so that it is right next to the
white pawn on d5.

The en passant rule says that the white pawn !""""""""#

may capture the black pawn on the next move
only, by moving as if the black pawn had ç + + + +%
advanced only one square (see the diagram æ+ + + + %
above on the right). The white pawn moves å +p+ + +%
ä+ + + + %
to the c6 square and removes the black pawn
from the board (see diagram to the right).
ã + + + +%
The en passant rule only applies when the
pawn has moved two squares and landed
â+ + + + %
next to an opposing pawn. No other piece á + + + +%
can capture using the en passant rule. If the à+ + + + %
pawn is not captured on the next move, the
en passant rule no longer applies to that
/èéêëìíîï)
pawn.

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How a Game Ends
Check, Checkmate, and Stalemate
!""""""""# !""""""""#
ç + + + L% ç + + + +%
æ+ + + +.% æ+ + + + %
å + + + :% å + + + +%
ä+ + +k+.% ä+l+ + + %
ã + + + :% ã +w+ + +%
â+ + + +r% â+ +.+ + %
á + + + +% á + +.+ +%
à+ + + + % à+ + +k+ %
/èéêëìíîï) /èéêëìíîï)
When the king is being attacked by an opposing piece, it is in “check”. In the above
diagram on the left, the black king is in check from the white rook. In the diagram on
the right, the white king is in check from the black queen. A king cannot move to a
square where it will be in check. When the king is in check, he must move out of check
on the next move. This can be done one of three ways:

1. Moving the king to another square.

2. Blocking the attack with another piece.
3. Capturing the piece putting the king in check.

If the king cannot move out of check by any means, then he is in checkmate and the
game is lost. The object of chess is to win by getting your opponent in checkmate.

Stalemate
If a player cannot make any legal moves, but his/her king is not in check, then the game
is a stalemate (tie). There are a few other ways that a game can end in a tie (called a
draw):

1. If both players agree, the game can be declared a draw.

2. If 50 moves have passed without a pawn moving or a piece being captured,
either player can claim a draw.
3. If the same position has been repeated three times, either player can claim a
draw.

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Advanced Concepts
Point Values for Pieces

Players are often concerned in chess with who is “winning” in a given position. Much of
the time, the player who is winning is the player who has the most material (pieces) left
on the board. Not all of the pieces are the same, so players use a “point” system for
estimating the value of each piece.

For beginners, it is important to understand that “winning” and “having the most
points” is not always the same thing. It is possible to win with fewer points than your
opponent, and sometimes players will actually sacrifice material in order to achieve a
win. The most important thing to understand is the value you get when you “trade”
pieces. For example, if white captures black’s rook but then looses his/her knight, this is
usually considered a “good” trade for white because rooks are worth more than knights.

The relative values of the pieces are:

Pawn: 1 point
Knight: 3 points
Bishop: 3 points
Rook: 5 points
Queen: 9 points

Using this scale we can see that trading a bishop for a knight is usually an even trade.
Either of these pieces is worth three pawns, but a rook is more valuable than either a
bishop or a knight. A queen as has already been noted is the most powerful piece, and
she is worth as much as three minor pieces, but not quite so much as two rooks.

The king does not get a point value because the king can never be captured.

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Appendix A
Chess Notation
Chess notation is a way of reading and recording chess moves. There have been many forms of chess
notation over the years, but the most commonly used form today is algebraic notation.

In algebraic notation, the squares on the chess board are described in terms of files (a-h) and ranks (1-8).
Each square can be described by naming its file and then its rank. For example, in the left diagram
(below), the square e4 has a white pawn on it. The right diagram shows the starting position for all chess
games.

The chessboard at the

A pawn on e4 start of a game.
!””””””””#!””””””””#
ç + + + +%çtMvWlVmT%
æ+ + + + %æOoOoOoOo%
å + + + +%å + + + +%
ä+ + + + %ä+ + + + %
ã + +p+ +%ã + + + +%
â+ + + + %â+ + + + %
á + + + +%ápPpPpPpP%
à+ + + + %àRnBqKbNr%
/èéêëìíîï)/èéêëìíîï)
Note that white always starts with his (her) pieces on the first rank, while black always starts with his (her)
pieces on the eighth rank. The chess pieces are represented by uppercase letters:

K = King, Q = Queen, B = Bishop, N = Knight, R = Rook

When a piece moves, we use the letter for the piece and the name of the square it is going to:

Nf3 (means a knight has moved to the square f3)

When a pawn moves, we use only the name of the square it is going to. In algebraic notation, chess
players assume that a move without a letter is a pawn move:

e4 (means a pawn has moved to the square e4)

Other symbols that you will use are:

x a capture
O-O castle on the King side
O-O-O castle on the Queen side
+ check
# checkmate

If you read a book about chess, you may see these symbols:

? a bad or questionable move

! a good move
?? a blunder

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 Example Game
London, 1911
Ed. Lasker Sir George Thomas

White Black
1. d4 e6
2. Nf3 f5
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Bg5 Be7
5. Bxf6 Bxf6
6. e4 fxe4
7. Nxe4 b6
8. Ne5 O-O
9. Bd3 Bb7
10. Qh5? Qe7??
11. Qxh7+!

Here white announced mate in 8 moves!

Position after 11. Qxh7+

!””””””””#
çtM + Tl+%
æOvOoW Oq% The game ended as follows:
å O +oV +%
ä+ + N + %
11. … Kxh7
12. Nxf6+ Kh6
ã + Pn+ +% 13. Neg4+ Kg5
â+ +b+ + % 14. h4+ Kf4
ápPp+ PpP% 15.
16.
g3+
Be2+
Kf3
Kg2
àR + K +r% 17. Rh2+ Kg1
/èéêëìíîï) 18. Kd2#

Checkmate
!””””””””#
çtM + T +%
æOvOoW O %
å O +oN +%
ä+ + + + %
ã + P +nP%
â+ + + P %
ápPpKbP R%
àR + + L %
/èéêëìíîï)

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